Stanford gets past BYU in Elite Eight women's rugby match

Stanford women's rugby has been a fixture at the USA Rugby National Championships for over a decade. Why change things?

Stanford is off to the Division I Final Four after a hard-fought 26-17 win over BYU in an Elite Eight match at Steuber Rugby Stadium on Saturday. Stanford won't have to travel far as it is the host site for the championships May 8-10.

"BYU was athletic, physical and a worthy adversary," Stanford coach Matt Sherman said. "They were committed with their season on the line."

Tighthead prop Maxine Fonua's third try of the game 71 minutes in, plus a 2-point conversion by Aly Gleason, had to provide some bit of relief that the feisty Cougars were at arm's length.

"I wasn't really paying attention how many tries I scored," said Fonua, a Hawaiian native. "Our forwards really brought it. We gave a good platform for our backs."

Stanford scored quickly to go up 5-0. Good ball movement to the weak side resulted in a try by center Madeline Wilson, who put the ball down far left of post in the second minute. Gleason's conversion effort was short to the left.

What transpired was around 20 minutes of teams fighting for field position as penalties on both sides mounted. An offside call on BYU gave the Cardinal a scrum on the Cougars' 5-meter line. Freshman scrumhalf Esther Melton got the ball out to her right. A second pass ended up in Fonua's hands and she powered over for a try in the 22nd minute. Gleason's conversion was good for 12-0 Cardinal.

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Lock Allie Ballesteros had a 20-yard break for Stanford but no points came out of it. Stanford was dealt a blow when Melton was called for not releasing the ball after being tackled. The referee felt compelled to assess a yellow card on Melton, who served 10 minutes in the "sin bin."

"I held the ball in the ruck and didn't let it go," Melton said. "It was a team. All of us were doing it. I just happened to be the last one."

The Cougars, led by a bullish run by center Jordan Gray, capitalized when flanker Shaya Grether got over the line in the 21st minute.

Stanford was on BYU's 3-meter line right before halftime, but couldn't get the try down before the halftime whistle blew.

Gray set up and scored BYU's next try when she rambled ahead, then passed to Kim Smith, who passed the ball back to Gray, who got over the line in the 49th minute. A good conversion tied the match 12-12.

Three minutes later, Fonua scored her second try of the match. Gleason was true with her conversion, the Cardinal ahead 19-12.

With the Cougars attacking, Fonua went down with leg cramps in the 65th minute. Play was finally stopped and Fonua refused to leave the field, returning to the pack for a set scrum deep in Stanford territory. The Cougars were thwarted when the Cardinal kicked to touch.

"The best thing Fonua did all match was struggling with cramps and stayed in the game," Sherman said. "We won a critical scrum at a critical moment. That was the turning point in the game."

Gray and center Keelia MacLennan, were two backs that the Cardinal was bent on slowing down. For the most part, Stanford did a good job in that department. The match was a contrast from Friday's Sweet 16 match, which had the Cardinal routing Texas A&M 78-5.

"That was our first real test of the season," Gleason said. "They had a lot of athletes to counter our athletes."

Melton showed great promise as a first-year scrumhalf, making a key break with the ball late in the match to gain valuable field position. Now she's trying to get the Cardinal's first national women's rugby crown since 2008.

"It's amazing to be going to the Final Four," Melton said. "I have no words. The plan is to win it all."